Combined handle and support



June 16, 1953 H. H. MILLER COMBINED HANDLE SUPPORT Filed Feb. 11, 1950 Inventor: Homer- H. Mil lei",

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Patented June 16,1953 .1 I

'coMBINEp'HANnLE'AND SUPPQR Homer H. .Miller; Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to GeneraLElectric',Company, a. corporation of New York Application Fe ruary 11, 1950, Serial No. 143,729

This invention relates to a combined handle and support for an electric appliance and, more particularly, to such a handle and-support which is useful with an electricheating appliance such as'a sandwich grill or wafile iron. ---Inelectric wafiie irons andsandwich grills where two heated" cooking surfaces are provided, which normally simultaneously heat two sides-oi ionic; (01.99440) the food beingcooked, it'is often convenient,

particularly with sandwich grills, to use both cooking surfaces of the appliance as single surface cookers. With the conventional sandwich grill construction," this, means that the upper heating unit which normally transmits heat downwardly must be opened up approximately 180 to transmit heat upwardly. In thislatter position, the upper heating unit, to be useful, must be supported in a horizontal position The usual hinged connection to the lower unit will support one side of -this':upper unit, but a-downwardly-extending support member is required at the-other side. If this support member is continuously extended, it provides an awkward-and unbecoming appearance when the device is closed for normal use or storage. A handle must also be provided at the outer edge of the upper unit for'conveniently raising and lowering this unit for inserting and removing food from the applianc'e. a v I v It is, therefore, 'an'object ofthis invention to provide'a combined handle and support for an electric appliance in which a support element forms a decorative portion of the handle.

4 The invention, therefore, consists generally :in acombined handle and support including a rigid handle portion fixedly mounted to the upper hinged section'of an electric appliance and a support portion -hingedly..:mounted to automatically 7 dle partially cut away; Fig. 4 is a side view taken through the'section 4-4 in .Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side view of the handle alone taken through the section 5-4-5 in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a side view of the 2 handle in the inverted position taken through the section 6-6 inFig. 3 and showing the support portion of the handle in phantom and extended 'as-in Fig. 2; and Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the components of the handle.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown an electrical sandwich grill I having sup.- ports 2 and 3 and including an upper section 4 and a' lower section' 5-h'aving grids 6 between which the food to be cooked may be placed. A handle '1 and its counterpart in an opposite position on the other side of the grill are provided for lifting and moving the appliance. The upper section 4 is-hingedly mounted on the lower sectioniby'means of hinges 8. Handle 9 is provided for opening-the device by raising upper section 4, and lead-in conductors H] are provided which enter the device through support. 2. The structure of support 2 forms the subject of my concurrently filed co-pending patent application, serial'No. 143,727, and other features of the structure of this heating device form the subject'of. my concurrently filed co-pending patent application, Serial No. 143,728. Both of these applications are assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention, and have issued as. Patents 2,544,343 and 2,588,145, respectively. The present invention is concerned primarily with the structure of handle 9 which, by means of a support portion 1 l, which extends outwardly. and downwardly', as thell per section of the device is opened, to support the outer portion of the upper section in the completelyopened position. :This position of the sandwich grill is'shown in Fig.2 with the support portion ll of handle 9 extended. This opening action of the hinged support portion H is automatic since the support portion 14 swings out by'the force of gravity. This action is shown in Fig. 2 by a.

phantorn view of upper section A inan intermediate-position of the opening.

bled relationship in Fig. 5. The handle a The structural details of handle 9 may best be understoodby reference first to the exploded viewoi Fig. 7 where the handle is shown to consist of a body portion I2, a mounting bracket 13, the support section [Land L-shaped retaining barbs M. -Mounting bracket 13 is assembled to body portion l2 by means of the barbedprongs I5 on the bracket which are inserted into slots IS in the body portion, only one of which isvisible in Fig. 7. These parts are shown in assemis mounted, as best shown in Fig. 4, by means of threaded fastenings I! which extend through suitable holes in the shell of the upper section 4 of the sandwich grill into threaded engagement with the holes at 18 on bracket [3. Above each of the holes I8 is an outwardly bent tongue l9 which serves to position the handle at the proper angle when in the assembled position with relation to section 4 as shown in Fig. 4.

Support portion l l is hingedly mounted on the body portion [2 by means of small hinge buttons on body portion 12 which, in the assembled position, fit into slots 2! in support portion II. This assembled position may be obtained by retating sup-port portion clockwise 90.from the position shown in Fig. 7 and movingit towards the body portion l2 so that slots 2| slide over buttons 2%. This assembled position is shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 6. The support portion may then be rotated back 90 in the clockwise direction, hinged about hinge buttons 20 into 'a position corresponding to the phantom view shown at 22 in Fig. 6. Barbs I4 may then be inserted in slots 23 in support portion II. The assembled position of the barbs is shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The purpose of the barbs isalso best shown in Figs. 4 and 6 where it can be seen that the downwardly-extending portions 24 of the barbs engage with the shoulders 25 of body portion I2 to prevent disassembly of the support portion =l-l from body portion 12. V

In the closed position of the sandwich grill shown in Fig. 1 supportportion ll will normally remain in the closed positionshown inFigs. l, 3, and 4 as a decorative portion of handle '9. As mentioned above, when the upper section 4 of the sandwich grill is opened as in Fig. 2, the support portion ll automatically hinges outwardly and downwardly under the force of gravity. At this time, since the support portion is hanging from the body portion l2'by means of hinge buttons 20, the hinge buttons 20 will be associated with the ends of slots 2| indicated at =26 in Fig. 7. In

this position of support member H with respect to body member I2, a clearancespace is maintained between the beveled front surface :21 of support member I l and the beveled inner surface 28 of body member [2. These surfaces are-indicated in Figs. 4, 6, and '7. However, when the upper section of the sandwich grill-approaches the fully opened position shown in Fig. 2,'th'e lower edge of support portion i lmeets the supporting surface to'prevent further downward movement of the support portion, but the upper section 4 and the handle body member i2 continue to move until surfaces 2! and 28 are engaged. This position is shown by the phantom view of support section H at 22 in Fig. 6. Theend of support portion ll, including surface '21, is fitted into a notch in body portion [2 including the surface 28 and a surface 29 which are best shown in Fig. 4.

. Because of the angles of the surfaces of this notch, when the weight of upper section l issupported upon the handle, the support section II is restrained against rotation in either direction so as to prevent collapseof thesupport.

It will be seen from the above description that this invention provides an improved, combined handle and support for the hinged .portion of an electrical cooking appliance, such'as a sandwich grill or a waiiie iron, which is characterized by economy, simplicity, dependability, and attractive appearance.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my invention in its broader aspects and I, therefore, aim in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

.In an electrical appliance of the type including a stationary base section and a cover section having a hinged connection therewith, a combined handle'and support attached to an outer edge of said cover remote from the hinged connection to bracket for mounting said body portion to said cover and attached to said body portion by means of barbed tongues extending into slots in said body portion, a support portion having :pivotal connectionmeans with said body'portionfor rotation about an axis parallel tothe axis of rotation of saidcover with respect to said basesection and remote from said mounting bracket, means limiting rotationof said-support portion with respect to said bodyportion to a range between a retracted position parallel to the plane of said cover andpanextended positionperpendicular to the plane of said cover, the pivotal connection meansfor said sup-port portion-with respect to said body portion including hinge buttons'on one of said portions which extend into slotteddepressions on the other of said portions, said slotted depressions being closed at one end and open at the opposite end to facilitate assembly of said support portions,rshoulders on said body portion adjacent said pivotal connection means, L-shaped barbs assembled in slots insaid support portion for respectively engaging :said shoulders on said body portion for preventing disengagement of said hinge buttons and said slotted depressions when said support portion is parallel to the plane of said cover, a bevelled surface on the hinged end of said support portion, a depression in said body-portion for receiving, said hinged end of said support portion and including a bevelled surface to cooperate with said bevelled surface on'said support member, said pivotal connection means providing an appreciable lost motion displacement between said body .portion and said support portion to allow close engagement of said bevelled "surfaces when said support portion is in the extended position to prevent collapse'of said sup-port portion into the retracted position when said cover is being supported thereby.

HOMER I-I. MILLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Goil'gh out. 24,, 1944 

